Thursday, February 8, 2007

Don't insist on Ration Cards for LPG supply: Madurai Bench

Don't insist on Ration Cards for LPG supply: Madurai Bench

Staff Reporter

"Don't insist on family cards"

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) to supply domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders to the court staff and lawyers, residing in the vicinity of the Bench, without insisting on the production of family cards.

Passing interim orders on a public interest litigation petition moved by one of the lawyers, a Division Bench comprising Justice Dharma Rao Elipe and Justice P.P.S. Janarthana Raja said that it was sufficient to prove the customers' identity through any other document.

The petitioner said that many lawyers, who were practising in the principal seat of the High Court in Chennai, had migrated to Madurai pursuant to the establishment of the Bench in July 2004.

Similarly, hundreds of court employees were transferred here and most of them were residing in rented houses in the localities around the Bench premises.

They applied for LPG connections and obtained them without any difficulty on production of any document as a proof of residence.

The refill cylinders were regularly supplied to their homes until recently when the local LPG dealers refused to deliver them to those who did not possess a ration card, he said.

When contacted, the IOC officials said that the Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department had instructed them to demand a copy of the ration card while granting fresh domestic connections and to note down the ration card number while taking orders for refills. Those who did not have a ration card were asked to produce a certificate to the effect from the Taluk Supply Officers.

Tight spot

On the other hand, the officials concerned refused to issue such certificates since they did not possess a foolproof mechanism to ascertain the genuineness of the claim. Put under a tight spot, the lawyers and staff had no other option but to approach the court for appropriate orders, the petitioner claimed.

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